Paulo Freire and Plato

The fellow in Plato’s cave can be considered dehumanized. He has been in a cave his whole life, shackled so that he may not move his legs or head, and believes that shadows are realities. This is no way for a human to live. When he begins his ascent towards the light he is afraid, though he might not be consciously aware of it, he is afraid of the freedom he is heading towards. When he does reach the outside of the cave and experience the sun his life collapses. His reality is no longer real. He must accept that for most of his life he has been neglected of the things that

In my life I believe that I have gone through many mini-liberations. Just like a child realizing Santa Claus is not “real”, I have found that many times the realities I knew were nothing more than shadows on the cave wall. Sometimes the realization was a gradual one where I made my way to the light very slowly, other times I was forcibly shoved into the light and made painfully aware of the fact that the real world was different than my perception of it.

The two readings are very connected. While studying Freire, I constantly pictured the cave and the men in it. It is the same lesson in different language. Plato and Freire both addressed the issue of oppression and transformation, how it can affect humanity, and the fears associated with freedom.

Abraham Lincoln believed that the Declaration of Independence was the “apple of gold”, and the constitution was the “picture of silver” wrapped around the apple. The greatest principle within the two documents was ‘Liberty to All’. This is what Lincoln believed that the oppressed people fought for. He believed that without this decree the oppressed people in America would not have fought for their freedom. All men are created equal; another principle that was embodied in the framed apple, but which he thought some doctrines conflicted with this notion. He did not believe this, and made reference to the Revolutionary War and what it stood for. The Declaration of Independence also declared that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were unalienable rights endowed upon is by our Creator. Lincoln thought that the Constitution framed and preserved these

Some topics in this essay:
Parable Cave, Santa Claus, Declaration Independence, All’ Lincoln, Lincoln Constitution, Plato Freire, Jonathan Kozol, Pedagogy Oppressed, declaration independence, Revolutionary War, “picture silver”, “apple gold”, Abraham Lincoln, liberty pursuit happiness, created equal, documents preserve, treated equal, lincoln believed, afraid freedom, life liberty pursuit, liberty pursuit, oppressed people,